[MN-at-Large] Wonderful news from the State Capitol

[David Andrews]

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>Bottom-line up-front: Legislative victories: 
>Blind parents’ rights are protected, 
>prescriptions will be available in braille or 
>large print, and Uber/Lyft are sticking around,
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>I am overjoyed to let you know that, as part of 
>a larger bill, both the Minnesota House and 
>Senate passed our legislation to strengthen 
>legal protections for parents who are blind or 
>have other disabilities and their children. Even 
>better, the Governor has now signed it into law.
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>This victory is the result of years of work and 
>advocacy on the part of the members of the 
>National Federation of the Blind, including 
>Minnesota parents who are blind, children that 
>they have raised, and everyone concerned with 
>making sure that fear and lack of knowledge of 
>blindness and disability are not allowed to 
>enter into decisions about children and their 
>families. It would not have been possible 
>without all who have come to our Day at the 
>Capitol for many years to educate our 
>legislators on this issue; or those who 
>advocated to get hearings on the bill; or who 
>came to the hearings to show their support, or 
>who gave such compelling, real-life testimony in 
>person and in writing; or all who contributed to 
>the many other ways we built support—not only 
>among legislators, but with others in the 
>community as well. Special thanks to the members 
>of our Rochester chapter, who were the key in 
>winning the initial support of our chief author 
>in the House; Rochester's  Representative Kim 
>Hicks was a very effective and tenacious 
>advocate for passage of these provisions this year.
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>The legislation will prevent the imposition of 
>limitations on custody, parenting time, or 
>adoption of a child on the basis of a parent's 
>disability; likewise, a parent's disability 
>cannot be a basis for the filing of a petition 
>for a child in need of protective services. If 
>specific behaviors or other factors make the 
>consideration of  limitation of parental rights 
>necessary, the use of supportive parenting 
>services, such as learning nonvisual techniques 
>or taking parenting classes, must be considered 
>as a way to resolve concerns before limitations 
>or denials can occur. The effective date is August 1, 2024
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>Adding to this excitement, we achieved a partial 
>victory in securing access to braille and large 
>print prescriptions at retail pharmacies. 
>We’ve told the legislators and our partners at 
>the Minnesota Commission for the Deaf and Hard 
>of Hearing that we’ll be back to ensure the 
>protections are in place for all blind 
>Minnesotans, including those who rely on audio 
>and are incarcerated. This year’s law 
>commissions a study to evaluate audible 
>prescription labels, but that format is not 
>required. In the coming weeks, we will work on a 
>publicity campaign to ensure that blind and 
>low-vision Minnesotans know about what to expect 
>from pharmacies around the state.
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>To top it all off, as you’ve probably Heard by 
>now, Uber and Lyft have agreed to stick around 
>in Minnesota after the state passed a new law 
>setting minimum compensation for rideshare 
>drivers that pre-empts the controversial 
>Minneapolis City Council resolution. We have 
>more work to do to ensure that these services 
>are equally accessible to Minnesotans who use 
>service dogs, and we are actively in 
>conversations with both companies at a national level.
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>With gratitude to each of you who contributed 
>innumerably to these efforts, I would also like 
>to draw your attention to the email that I just 
>sent you about donating to the 
><https://nfb.org/get-involved/national-convention/give-25>Dream 
>Big, Give $25 campaign. These victories here in 
>the Land of 10,000 Lakes wouldn’t be possible 
>without support from our national office, work 
>that is done in our building in Baltimore, the 
>people we’re able to engage through grants to 
>first-time attendees to our national convention, 
>and our rainy-day fund. When you support the 
>Give 25 Campaign, you support our work around 
>the country and here at home through the White 
>Cane Fund, tenBroek Fund, Jernigan Fund, and SUN 
>Fund. Please reference the email that I am about to send you with more details.
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>Corbb
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>Â
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>Corbb O'Connor (he/him), President
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>National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota
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><http://www.nfbmn.org>www.nfbmn.org | (612) 872-936
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